1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an emergency switch, comprising a body receiving means movable in translation capable, under the action of an axial thrust, of passing from an extended position into a retracted position, each of said positions being indexed through blocking means capable of cooperating with at least one indexing notch in an extended position and with at least one indexing notch in a retracted position.
An emergency switch is generally used for immediately stopping a device in operation or for quickly breaking a circuit or network. Such a switch will find its application in many technical fields, such as, and non-restrictively, on industrial chains and devices, machine-tools, and supply circuits, etc.
2. Description of Related Art Including Information Disclosed Under 37 CFR 1.97 and 37 CFR 1.98.
Such switches are already known, which are either of the “push-pull” type, in which the unblocking occurs through pulling, this is the case for the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,445, or of the “push-turn” type, in which the unblocking occurs through rotation, this is the case for the one described in EP 0 667 631. The drawback of these devices resides in that they are either of the “push-pull” type, or of the “push-turn” type, and in that, though the device of U.S. Pat. No. 4,404,445 can be of both types at the same time, it does not permit to be of one type or the other one.
In order to cope with this drawback, the present Applicant disclosed, in European application EP 1 734 434, an emergency switch that advantageously has the possibility of being unlockable through pulling and/or through rotation, while being likely to incorporate visual means permitting to signal their state, open or closed, consisting of either a light member or a mobile member cooperating with a window, and also likely to be provided with an arming system ensuring the non-return after triggering.
This switch comprises a member axially movable in the body, said member being provided with two longitudinally distributed notches, one for indexing in an extended position and the other one for indexing in a retracted position, aimed at cooperating with blocking means, while a guiding system, which comprises two parts cooperating with each other in sliding, permits to limit and to determine the evolutions in translation and in rotation of said mobile member with respect to said body.
The advantages this switch provides are essentially due to the fact that the blocking means has an annular shape comprising two parts, one for blocking around the mobile member, immobilized in rotation with respect to the body, and that it is shaped so as to be capable of alternately cooperating with either one of the indexing notches. This configuration permits in addition to liberate an important inner space likely to accommodate visual signaling means.
This switch has many advantages over the previous emergency switches, however it still has drawbacks, namely in that its design does not permit to manufacture the smallest emergency switches on the market.
Indeed, each emergency switch model is made in different sizes, adapted to the use made of same. Now, the above-mentioned emergency switch can technically not be manufactured, with all its remarkable features, in the smallest sizes, so that it does not permit to manufacture a complete range.
The object of the present invention is to provide a novel emergency switch permitting to cope with this drawback, the design of which permits, besides the possibility of a manufacture in all the sizes in use and besides the incorporation, on the one hand, of visual means for signaling its open or closed state and, on the other hand, of an arming system ensuring the non-return after triggering, to manufacture switches the unblocking of which can occur through pulling, through rotation, through pulling and through rotation, or through pulling or through rotation.
Furthermore, from the viewpoint of the manufacture, this switch requires one part less than the one object of EP 1 734 434, as well as less manual mounting operations.